Workers’ Education and the Organisation and Representation of Workers in the Informal Economy.
This discussion paper has been drafted by Dave Spooner on behalf of the Workers’ Educational Association (England & Scotland) and the International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations (IFWEA), in consultation with IFWEA affiliates and others .
Introduction
1. This discussion paper is an initial exploration of the potential of workers’ education to contribute the decent work strategy for the informal economy and, in particular, the effective exercise of the right to freedom of association and collective representation.
2. It does not claim to be based on rigorous or systematic research, but rather on anecdotal evidence and experience from IFWEA affiliates and partner organisations. In particular, it draws from the experience of the Workers’ Education Association of Zambia (WEAZ), its work with informal economy workers, and its partnership with the Zambian Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). While WEAZ doesn’t necessarily suggest a model of workers’ education organisation that could be replicated elsewhere (it was created in the context of Zambia’s specific economic, political and trade union development), there are nevertheless some useful observations to be made.
3. A more systematic approach is needed, as outlined within the paper, but that requires a longer-term study and evaluation beyond the remit or time-scale of this paper. First and foremost, it requires a thorough understanding and analysis of the experiences of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and the SEWA Academy: their members’ university, which could probably claim greater experience in workers’ education for informal economy workers than any other organisation in the world.
Workers Education
4. This paper refers to the term workers’ education throughout. It is used to describe programmes of adult learning associated with, or originated from, trade unions, co-operative movements, political parties associated with organised labour or social movements.
5. Trade union education and training accounts for a substantial proportion of workers’ education, but is not the only form of workers’ education. It also includes broader traditions of liberal, political, community and women’s education.
6. Trade union education and much of the broader workers’ education provision associated with it, is primarily an organising tool. Its main objectives are to build local, national and international organisational strength, and to ensure that the representation of members is democratic and effective.
7. Workers’ education, in its best traditions, is inherently a process of democratic organisation – in the governance of workers’ education institutions, in the design and management of education programmes and in the delivery of the education process.
8. Workers’ education places a strong emphasis on education methods and philosophies that promote the active participation of the learner education programmes, including the traditions of study circles and student-centred learning, for example.
9. There are different organisational models of organisations responsible for programmes of workers’ education, including education departments of national and international trade unions; voluntary associations affiliated to by trade unions; education and training organisations set up by trade unions, or NGOs and foundations associated with the labour movement.
10. Workers’ education organisations are independent of employers and governments (as distinct from government training institutions, for example), although many have close relations with state institutions, training agencies, further or higher education institutions, and development agencies. Most receive some level of financial support from governmental agencies – directly or, particularly in the case of many workers’ education organisations in developing countries, indirectly through partnership with international trade union or development agencies.
11. Many, but not all, workers’ education organisations are affiliated to the International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations (IFWEA).
Workers’ Education and the Informal Economy
12. The nature of the informal economy, and the status and conditions faced by workers within it, demands an approach to workers’ education that is distinct from provision for workers’ in formal employment, drawing from different strands of the workers’ education tradition (trade union, women’s movement, and community development etc).
13. Programme design has to be flexible, informal, and highly responsive to participants needs.
14. Local education activity needs to be located in a wide variety of settings, whether in people’s homes, places of work (within markets, in the street, etc), or in local premises provided by supportive organisations (churches, NGO offices, union buildings etc).
15. Educational meetings/sessions need to be held at times that do not interfere with participants’ economic activities.
16. In many sectors where the informal economy is prevalent, educational methodology has to cope with the likelihood that basic skill in literacy, numeracy and so on are poor, with a high incidence of educational disadvantage.
17. Participants in education activity to support workers in the informal economy are not necessarily trade union members, although the long-term objective may be to bring them into union membership. Many are members of informal economy workers’ associations, that may or may not be allied to the unions movement; that may or may not regard themselves as potential unions; or may or may not be democratic in structure.
18. Many participants will not be organised into any structure whatsoever, but are individually attracted to education programmes to gain practical skills that can enhance their working conditions or livelihoods.
19. Workers’ education provision for workers in informal employment should be based on the active engagement and participation of the workers and/or their representatives in the design, management and delivery of education programmes.
20. Extremes of poor working conditions and poverty found within the informal economy necessitate innovative and imaginative approaches to ensure sustainability of education provision; they need to be low-cost, affordable or free to participants, rooted in the community, informal and flexible.
21. The relatively high proportion of women in the workforce of the informal economy demands an approach to workers’ education that is highly gender-sensitive – in participation, in facilitation, and in leadership.
22. The growth of the informal economy is not restricted to developing countries. Educational strategies to support the development of workers’ organisation and representation must be relevant in a wide variety of legal, economic and social contexts.
Scope of workers’ education provision in the informal economy
23. The development of awareness and understanding of the informal economy in the context of rapid economic change, the impact of globalisation, structural adjustment programmes etc, is an essential and basic element of educational provision needed to promote and defend the interests of informal economy workers. There are several ways in which this could be achieved.
24. Courses for union organisers designed to boost union recruitment have obvious potential to include a substantial element of work to develop an understanding of the informal economy, although this may be more obvious in those countries, primarily developing economies, or industries where the informal economy is prevalent.
25. There has to be recognition, however, that many unions will not necessarily be willing to prioritise education work to boost recruitment in the informal economy, when it may be more cost-effective or politically more pressing to strengthen recruitment in more easily organised workplaces.
26. Even for unions without the capacity to organise informal economy workers, an understanding of the informal economy is increasingly important, whether to address fears that informal economy workers are undermining union strength, or to encourage the extension of basic principles of worker solidarity towards them. Although on the decline, there are many misconceptions – that the informal economy is a temporary phenomenon, exists only on the fringes of the global economy, is inherently anti-union, and so on.
27. Within trade union education for those in formal employment, there is a growing interest in and demand for courses for senior workplace representatives and union officers that develop an understanding of globalisation processes and international trade union strategies. There are a growing number of individual unions, national centres and international trade secretariats that are running specific courses or developing new education materials on globalisation , all of which – to a greater or lesser degree – include consideration of the informal economy.
28. Experience suggests that the more tightly defined by industrial sector, or even individual employer, the design and participation in the programme, the more effective courses be in achieving practical results.
29. There is considerable scope for the development of an understanding of the informal economy within community-based and women workers’ education programmes, either undertaken directly by unions, or by workers’ education organisations based in the community.
30. Many community-based or women’s education programmes, especially those working in areas of high unemployment, inevitably include participants from the informal economy. Frequently, participants are operating illegally, face acute discrimination within the community, or face employers or contractors with particularly hostile anti-union attitudes. In such cases, the overt inclusion of an organising agenda or questions of workers’ rights within the curriculum can be fearful or indeed dangerous.
31. In these conditions, a community-based approach can be less intimidating for the participants and less susceptible to intimidation or influence from hostile forces than formal trade union provision. This is particularly pertinent where the informal economy has a particularly high proportion of women workers and or workers in minority communities suffering discrimination, whether from within the family, the community or public authorities.
32. Whether organised by unions or by other groups in the community, the approach has to be highly sensitive. In some cases, the education programme has to be clandestine.
33. Education designed to promote and defend informal economy workers’ rights is clearly a high priority.
34. At the most basic level, workers’ education programmes need to be developed to build and awareness and understanding of workers’ rights – especially freedom of association – amongst informal economy workers, linked to education to encourage organisation.
35. There are also opportunities for trade unions representing workers in the formal economy to support the rights of informal economy workers through negotiation with employers, particularly where informal economy labour is significant in the supply chain (garment manufacture, food processing, etc).
36. There is considerable scope for the development of training programmes for trade union negotiators to include the promotion of informal economy workers’ rights within collective bargaining. This would encourage local and national negotiators to consider entire supply chains in production, encouraging employers to accept responsibility for workers’ conditions, including those of sub-contractors along the chain.
37. Internationally, there is considerable potential in courses designed to develop codes of conduct with employers, or international framework agreements that include specific reference to informal economy workers. Education programmes undertaken by international trade secretariats could be of great assistance, for example, in providing workplace representatives with sufficient knowledge and confidence to work towards negotiation of international framework agreements that include informal economy workers’ rights through the supply chain. There are some good examples of this to work from, such as the IKEA agreement with IFBWW. There is considerable potential for the development of such agreements to include specific reference to workers in the informal economy.
38. Such education programmes, to be of real value, need to be transnational in scope, including a representative cross-section of unions and, where appropriate, democratic associations of informal economy workers
39. If the basic principle of democratic participation of informal economy workers in the design and management of education programmes is followed through, experience suggests that programmes must offer both practical skills needed to improve workers’ livelihoods, enhance productivity and job quality alongside the organisational and political skills required to defend and promote collective interests.
40. Such skills may be needed to improve individual economic well-being, such as basic literacy/numeracy, elementary accountancy, marketing, business planning, access to micro-credit and so on, in addition to trade and artisan skills specific to sectors (embroidery, weaving, furniture-making etc).
41. There are also those skills required to improve collective economic well being, such as co-operative development, credit union management, and promotion of access to social security and insurance.
42. The most important role of education is to develop effective organisation and representation.
43. A primary task is to help develop skills in democratic organisation, including constitutional, financial and organisational structures, democratic processes, recruitment of members, fund-raising, conduct of meetings, roles and responsibilities of representatives, financial integrity etc.
44. Many of these skills are identical to basic trade union organisation in the formal sector, and trade union education specialists are potentially able to provide valuable assistance to the development of informal economy worker education. Unless they are in unions with substantial informal economy experience, however, they will need training to help develop an understanding and awareness of the informal economy.
45. Good quality workers’ education programmes, where participants are encouraged to take an active role and responsibility in the democratic governance and management of provision, are inherently designed to develop democratic organisational skills. For many, participation in workers’ education is their first experience in democratic life.
46. There are also important education initiatives needed to develop skills in representation: advocacy, media skills, lobbying and campaigning, including basic research skills in mapping the local/national informal economy, such as surveys and statistical interpretation. (How many workers? what are the conditions of work? what is the contribution to the economy?).
47. Effective representation of informal economy workers also requires education to develop understanding of local and/or national/international governmental processes, including policy formation in urban planning, rural development and so on.
48. Workers’ education can also support the construction of alliances – between unions representing informal economy workers, unions that don’t, informal economy associations, community and women’s organisations, NGOs etc. In some cases, workers’ education programmes can offer an important bridge and meeting point between these organisations.
Practical steps for the development of education provision.
49. Mapping potential education providers. An important first step is to identify those organisations that have the capacity, or potential, to develop education programmes for and by informal economy workers.
50. It is assumed, as a matter of principle, that such education programmes should be under the direction of informal economy workers themselves, whether they are organised within unions, or within other democratic workers’ associations.
51. There are also, however, a range of organisations capable and appropriate to assist with the development of education provision, or to undertake the work on behalf of representative organisations of informal economy workers.
52. Informal economy workers’ education programmes could be developed in a number of different ways, with a number of different agencies – each able to be effective in one or more strands of an overall educational strategy.
53. Informal economy associations or unions with a membership drawn exclusively from the informal economy rarely have the capacity to organise education programmes for their members, although there are some exceptions (notably SEWA Academy). Nevertheless, wherever possible, these would be the most effective education providers, assuming sufficient support from unions and other agencies. In some countries, it may be possible to consider the creation of new training organisations, perhaps as partnerships of unions and informal economy associations, specifically to develop the educational skills of workers’ representatives in the informal economy.
54. The primary role of education programmes run by informal economy associations and unions themselves would be to develop skills in organisation and representation but, depending on the specific needs of the workers concerned, might also include: recruitment and democratic organisation, negotiation skills, co-operative development, and vocational skills.
55. National trade union centres are central to the development of national education programmes. In many countries, they are the only workers’ organisation with the capacity to run sustained education programmes. National centres are also uniquely placed to:
· develop strong and effective representation of informal economy workers’ interests to government and governmental agencies;
· encourage national unity between informal employment workers’ associations, particularly in countries where there is a large number of local, regional and sectoral organisations, often in competition for scarce resources and political influence;
· train and support educators from affiliated unions working with informal economy workers; and
· promote dialogue and co-operation between unions and informal sector associations – locally and nationally.
56. National unions, where they have capacity, are obviously best suited to run programmes specific to their sector, industry or trade. Particularly those programmes designed to support the recruitment of informal economy workers into union membership, and/or the creation of local or national alliances with informal economy associations organised by sector (taxi drivers, garment workers, small-holders etc).
57. NGOs and community-based groups, working closely in co-operation with unions, often have the best capability of organising education programmes that are capable of reaching informal economy workers in the community or at the grass-roots, designed to strengthen – or in some cases, create – associations or unions of informal economy workers, and develop skills in democratic and representative organisation. There is a need to ensure clarity, however, on the relationship between unions and NGOs in this context. NGOs can clearly provide considerable assistance in the development of education programmes for informal economy workers, but they cannot claim to represent or organise them.
58. There are obviously also considerable local, national and regional variations in the most likely appropriate workers’ education partner organisations. This to some extent depends on the prevailing context of civil society development. Where civil society is weak, trade unions are often the only democratic institutions capable of sustaining appropriate workers’ education programmes. Elsewhere, there may be a considerable range of organisations engaged in education with sufficient experience and commitment to support or strengthen the organisation and representation capacity of workers in informal employment.
59. There are many other institutions and organisations engaged in education and training for workers, which might offer opportunities for those in the informal economy. Obvious among these would be vocational training institutions, major employers, government departments, tertiary colleges and training organisations in the private sector. Others might include development NGOs or religious institutions.
60. Many such organisations may offer education and training opportunities that are wholly legitimate and useful, especially in the provision of vocational training for individual workers, and (dependent on local circumstances) important partners with workers’ education organisations. They are not, however, generally appropriate as lead organisations for workers’ education in the context of an organisation and representation agenda, which depends on a strong commitment to a democratic and participatory approach, as outlined above.
61. International organisations are crucial in the design and delivery of training and support programmes, regionally and globally. Discussions on the most appropriate and effective forms of international organisation and representation are yet to be finalised, but in principle, the strategic educational direction of such training needs to be under the direction of democratically determined representation of informal economy workers, however that is to be expressed.
62. Whatever international structures emerge, it is certain that the capacity required to deliver large scale education programmes will need a long-term partnership between informal economy workers, and the ICFTU, the ITSs, IFWEA, and other agencies – such as the International Co-operative Alliance.
63. Promotion of effective and sustainable models of workers’ education. It is important to develop models of education for workers in the informal economy that have proven practical impact and sustainability. For this, the obvious starting point must be the education experience of SEWA and other organisations that have demonstrated considerable success in building democratic organisations.
64. The transfer of skills and experience between such organisations and other associations, trade unions or NGOs with an interest in supporting the organising agenda of workers in the informal economy is the necessary first step in building a coherent international strategy. There are of course major important differences in local circumstances that will preclude the wholesale translation and transfer of education programmes from one setting to another, but there will be important principles, strategies, and experiences that have universal value .
65. Pedagogical development and technical assistance. From such lessons, it should prove possible to develop programmes of support to organisations representing informal employment workers and their partners and allies in workers’ education to encourage and facilitate the development of new or expanded programmes in support of the organisation and representation agenda.
66. Adaptation of study circle methods to meet the needs of informal economy workers.
67. Primary measures of support would inevitably include the provision of training programmes for workers’ education programme developers, managers and tutors/facilitators, and the production of new techniques, materials, course designs and so on, that can be shared as a common resource for local adaptation.
68. Inevitably, particularly in developing countries, and especially where organisation of informal economy workers is found to be weak or non-existent, there will need to be a sustained commitment of financial resources to ensure delivery of programmes on the ground. In no circumstances, however, should the scale of such resources be allowed to undermine the sustainability of the informal economy workers’ organisations themselves. Emphasis should be on support for transnational co-operation and mutual support, and for programmes that strengthen the local educational capacity of the informal employment workers’ organisations themselves.
Dave Spooner
WEA International Programmes Officer
July 2001.